Master of Science in Industrial Engineering
The MS Industrial Engineering degree is offered on-campus and online. Student may choose to pursue the thesis or non-thesis option in the program. As a general guideline, students who do not wish to pursue a PhD program should enroll in the non-thesis option; students who plan to pursue a PhD must complete the thesis option.
Degree requirements are the same for online and on-campus students. Students pursuing the thesis option will complete 24 hours of coursework and 8 hours of thesis research, for a total of 32 hours. Students pursuing the non-thesis option will complete 32 hours of coursework and 4 hours of independent study, for a total of 36 hours.
For the most up to date degree requirements, please visit the University of Illinois Academic Catalog.
Thesis Option
- 32 Total Hours
- Thesis credit (IE 599) -- 8 hours
A maximum of 8 credit hours of IE 599 (or other approved thesis) may be counted toward the degree. - Graduate Seminar (IE 590) -- 0 hours
Registration is required for every term as an active student. - 500-level IE Courses -- 12 hours
- STEM courses from outside of major -- 4 hours
STEM course must be approved and be from a College of Engineering department, including ABE and CHBE (or other approved department). Excludes TE and ENG courses. - Elective courses chosen in consultation with advisor -- 8 hours
A maximum of 4 hours of IE 597 (or other approved independent study/project design) may be applied toward the elective coursework requirement.
Other Requirements and Conditions (may overlap)
- A minimum of 12 500-level credit hours applied toward the degree
- Minimum GPA: 3.0
Non-Thesis Option
- 36 Total Hours
- Independent Study (IE 597) -- 4 hours
- Graduate Seminar (IE 590) -- 0 hours
Registration is required for every term as an active student. - 500-level IE Courses -- 12 hours
- STEM courses from outside of major -- 4 hours
STEM course must be approved and be from a College of Engineering department, including ABE and CHBE (or other approved department). Excludes TE and ENG courses. - Elective courses chosen in consultation with advisor -- 16 hours
A maximum of 4 hours of IE 597 (or other approved independent study/project design) may be applied toward the elective coursework requirement.
Other Requirements and Conditions (may overlap)
- A minimum of 12 500-level credit hours applied toward the degree
- Minimum GPA: 3.0
Optional Concentrations
The following concentrations are available for students in the Industrial Engineering MS program, regardless of whether you're pursuing a thesis or non-thesis option, or whether you're in the residential or online program. Please keep in mind that these courses can count toward your 32 or 36 credit hours and are not in addition to them.
- Advanced Analytics – to declare this concentration, you must complete the course requirements first (or currently be in those courses). Then you need to submit a Graduate College petition and request the concentration be added to your academic record. You must also include the specific courses you have taken that will count toward the concentration. You should do this at least 3 months before your degree conferral term ends. The deadline is always listed in the Graduate College calendar.
- Computational Science & Engineering – visit the CSE Website for more information on how to declare this concentration
This video outlines requirements for the online Master's Degree.